We’re currently experiencing serious technical problems on the site, and as a result are unable to update the news – even though our market data is running as per normal. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused and hope to be up and running again this evening. Thank you for your patience in this regard.
– David McKay (editor) & team

New York - US stocks traded flat on Thursday despite the excitement from two giant M&A deals, the merger of American Airlines and US Airways, and Berkshire Hathaway and 3G's takeover of ketchup maker Heinz.

Analysts said the markets were partly echoing the slump in European markets on dismal economic growth reports from eurozone countries, as well as Japan.

Outstanding concerns about Europe were "exacerbated by a larger-than-expected contraction for the eurozone economy," said a note from Charles Schwab & Co.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 9.52 points at 13,973.39.

Other food companies also gained on the news, including General Mills, which rose 3.1% and Kraft Food Group, which jumped 0.8%.

Shares of Belgian-US giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, whose $20.1bn takeover of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo has been challenged by US antitrust regulators, jumped 5.1 percent after the two companies said they would divest specific Modelo assets to please the regulators.

Distributor Constellation Brands, the main beneficiary of the divestments, rose 37.2%.

General Motors reported higher year-on-year earnings but still fell 3.2% after the profits came in below expectations amid losses in Europe.

Cisco Systems reported earnings that bested expectations, but gave up 0.7% following company comments that the European market remained difficult.

PepsiCo picked up 1.1% after reporting a 17 rise in year-over-year earnings.

Share this page

24.com publishes all comments posted on articles provided that they adhere to our Comments Policy. Should you wish to report a comment for editorial review, please do so by clicking the 'Report Comment' button to the right of each comment.